NBC Universo president Ruben Mendiola is stepping down amid a restructuring at the NBCUniversal Spanish-language programmer. Telemundo president Luis Silberwasser will take on Mendiola’s duties, in addition to Telemundo.
Mendiola, a former content executive at Dish Network, NBCU parent Comcast, Fox and Televisa, was named president of NBC Universo in May 2014. He oversaw the relaunch and rebranding of mun2, which had previously been a bilingual music channel, as NBC Universo.
Silberwasser joined NBC Universal in May 2014 from Discovery Communications. He was formerly chief content officer at Discovery Networks Internatonal.
In a statement, NBC Universo confirmed that the network and Mendiola are parting ways (news that was reported earlier by Billboard).
“We have decided to adjust our cable network’s structure in line with traditional cable channels operating within a portfolio and to ensure we are best positioned for future growth,” NBC Universo said in a statement. “As a consequence, Ruben Mendiola will be leaving the company to pursue other interests, and Luis Silberwasser will expand his responsibilities to oversee the channel, in addition to the Telemundo network. We thank Ruben for all his dedication, passion and hard work in building NBC Universo from the ground up. We appreciate very much all he has done for the company and wish him the best in his next projects. We continue to strongly believe that NBC Universo is a priority and that the cable network’s business represents an important growth opportunity for NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises.”
